When the Marauders Met
by Karonhisake
Summary: The story of how the marauders met, and their first year at Hogwarts. CHAPTER 9 UP! the actual chapter 9
1. Meet the Marauders

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, really. A/N Sorry about the choppiness, I had to describe what all the marauders were doing at that time.  
  
Chapter 1: Meet the Marauders  
  
James Potter opened his eyes. He looked at his calendar. Only one more day until he started at Hogwarts! He got out of his bed and tried to sort out his hair which was black, and scruffy. His eyes were brown and he was a bit short for his age. He put on some clothes and ran down the stairs to get some breakfast.  
  
His mother was already up when he entered the kitchen.  
  
'Morning dear,' she said. She had a kind voice. 'Only one more day before you start at Hogwarts. It's a pity that you're not allowed a broomstick though, you're ever so skillful.'  
  
'Morning mum.' James said to her whilst pouring some cereals into a bowl. He wondered how his best friend Sirius Black was doing. He's probably asleep, James told himself, he was always late for school because he slept in late. Sirius' mum and dad let him sleep in though, they hated muggle schools. No magic at all, but the one they had gone to was the most decent out of all of the muggle primary schools.  
  
James was right. Sirius was sleeping, well, sleeping until his house-elf Kreacher.  
  
'Wake up sir,' the house-elf said loudly 'You need to pack for Hogwarts.'  
  
Sirius groaned. 'Do it yourself Kreacher.' he moaned at the elf and rolled over. He didn't want to go to Hogwarts. He was going to be put in Slytherin, he just knew it. The rest of his family had been in that house and so would he and his little brother, probably. But Sirius didn't want to be in Slytherin. He didn't even like snakes! And anyway, James was bound to be in Gryffindor so the both of them would be separated straight away. Hogwarts was going to be hell.  
  
Remus Lupin thought that Hogwarts was going to be hell too. He didn't want to go; he knew he would be classed as a freak. 'Don't worry, no-one will know!' His dad told him. 'They won't even realise Remus, just cheer up, please! Your mother and I had to sort lots of things out before Dumbledore accepted you. Great man, Dumbledore. So don't be so ungrateful after all the things we've done for you.'  
  
Remus sulked. Of course he wasn't ungrateful! He wanted to go to Hogwarts badly, but was afraid of what all the other kids would think about him. If only he was normal. If only he hadn't been so stupid as to run after a wild werewolf and try and catch it and let it bite him. Now he was a werewolf, and it had made the last few years of his life a misery. If only he hadn't got bitten. If only.  
  
Peter Pettigrew was slumped in bed, still asleep. His parents looked at him, pleased. They thought he was a squib but had been proved wrong when he had received a letter from Hogwarts. He was going to begin his journey in learning magic in a day's time. They were proud of him. Very proud.  
  
The day went very slowly for all of them. James savoured his last few free moments on his broom, Sirius sat in his room sulking, Remus paced his bedroom, wondering whether he'd be accepted or rejected, and Peter didn't wake up until past noon when he had a very big appetite, which his happy parents filled up for him by giving him lots of treats for not being a squib. 


	2. Platform Nine and Three Quarters

Disclaimer: I own nothing of this, except the story I've told :) A/N This was updated because of grammar mistakes.  
  
Chapter Two: Platform Nine and Three-Quarters  
  
Finally! The day had arrived, and so did James. He only lived a couple of blocks from King's Cross, so he walked there with his mother, who was carrying his trunk. He couldn't wait to see Sirius; they hadn't spoken to each other all summer! Apparently, James was a 'bad influence' on Sirius, but there was nothing to stop them talking at Hogwarts, absolutely nothing! So what, Sirius might be in Slytherin, but who cares? James thought to himself as he reached platforms nine and ten.  
  
'So we just walk through the barrier, mum?' he asked his mother.  
  
'Yes, that's right dear.' she replied to him.  
  
'Well, what are we waiting for then?' he said to her, and smiled. They both walked toward the barrier and leaned. Suddenly, the Hogwarts express was looming over them, right next to platform nine and three-quarters!  
  
Owls were hooting, cats were mewing, and there were all sorts of noises. James looked around himself. People were boarding the Hogwarts express, and James and his mother followed them. They were behind a pale-faced boy with brown hair.  
  
A man, presumably his father, was saying: 'Don't worry Remus, everything will be alright. Just be yourself.'  
  
'I don't want to be myself!' Remus whined. 'I want to be someone else! I don't like being a - '  
  
'Ah!' his father warned him. Remus gave him a scolding look and tugged his trunk up the stairs towards a compartment. He was fed up. His father had lectured him for half an hour on how to behave and how not to be a werewolf. They'd all find out anyway, if he was going to be away once a month at the full moon. They were going to realise what he was, unless they were very stupid or didn't know much about werewolves.  
  
James wondered why the man had stopped his son from speaking and followed Remus into his compartment. If Sirius was going to be in Slytherin, then James needed to make some friends or be a loner, and he certainly didn't want to be the latter.  
  
'Hi,' he said breathlessly as he opened the compartment door. He was tired out from carrying his trunk around the station. It was heavy. The boy looked at him. 'What do you want?' he asked moodily, glaring at James.  
  
'Oh, erm, I need a compartment,' James told him. 'Can I use this one?'  
  
'Yeah, sure.' Remus said moodily and began moving his stuff. He wanted to be alone. James looked at him. 'What are you doing?' he asked, surprised at Remus' sudden almost-departure.  
  
'Oh, I'm just moving compartments.' Remus informed him coldly.  
  
'I'm not that bad, am I?' James asked. 'Repulsive?'  
  
Remus laughed. 'Nah, I just want to be alone.'  
  
'You'll never get a whole compartment to yourself, the whole school's got to fit in this train, remember! You're better off staying here!' James told him. 'I'm James Potter, by the way. Who are you?'  
  
'I'm Remus Lupin.' he reached out and shook James' hand. 'Which house do you want to be in? I prefer Gryffindor.' he stated.  
  
'Same here. I probably will be in there as well. All the rest of my family have been.' James told him.  
  
'Yeah, mine too.' Remus agreed with James, glad to have something in common with him.  
  
'The only thing is, my best mate's family have all been in Slytherin, so he'll probably end up there too!' James said unhappily.  
  
'Man, big bummer.'  
  
'I know!'  
  
Sirius arrived with his family at King's Cross. He was on time for once! The only thing was, it was the only time he truly wanted to be late for something. He hadn't talked all the way there. He wanted to be back in his bed at 12 Grimmauld Place, snuggling up against the warm covers of his bed. Once they had gone through the barrier, Sirius tried to linger on the platform and hopefully miss the train somehow. Unfortunately, James spotted him and yelled, 'Sirius! Over here!'  
  
Sirius lumbered reluctantly over towards James. James must have realised that he was upset because he said: 'Come on, it can't be that bad! You don't even know for certain that you're going to be in Slytherin yet!' James believed this as much as Sirius did, which was not that much at all. Not at all, in fact.  
  
'But all my family have been in Slytherin!' he protested.  
  
'No they haven't!' James had just remembered something that could help lift Sirius' and his own hopes up. 'What about Andromeda? She's in Gryffindor, remember?'  
  
Sirius had forgotten about his cousin, who was in her fourth year in Hogwarts. How could he have forgotten? Maybe there was hope after all!  
  
Sirius' mother had seen him talking to James. She strode over to them and said sweetly to Sirius, 'Can I have a word with you for a minute, son?' Sirius nodded, and followed her behind a pillar. Once they were out of sight of James, she turned to him, her face livid.  
  
'In no circumstances are you to talk with that boy, ever!' she snarled. 'Do you hear me loud and clear boy? If you disobey me, there will be punishments!'  
  
Sirius' anger at everything suddenly exploded. 'I DON'T CARE ANY MORE! YOU'VE ALREADY GIVEN ME LOADS OF PUNISHMENTS AND THEY DON'T WORK ANY MORE! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO BE IN STUPID SLYTHERIN ANYWAY!'  
  
His mother watched him as he stormed away. Had she just heard her son say that he didn't want to be in Slytherin? She realised that lots of people had turned around to see what was going on. She gave them a weak smile and said simply, 'It's hormones, you know how it is.' Someone, after hearing this decided to point out that Sirius was only eleven years old, but with one look at her face decided he'd be better off not saying a word.  
  
Sirius stormed into James and Remus' compartment, his face almost as livid as his mother's had been.  
  
'How'd you know I was in this compartment?' James asked him, surprised.  
  
Sirius looked at him. 'I didn't.' he told James. 'It was just the nearest compartment.'  
  
'Oh.' James said, and remembered Remus. 'This is Remus Lupin by the way.' he gestured over to Remus. 'This is Sirius Black, I was telling you about him earlier.' he informed Lupin. 'I can't believe you just did that,' he said, turning back to Sirius. 'I'd never have done that if I were you.'  
  
'What's wrong with opening a door and then going through it if you're me?' he asked, temporarily forgetting about his outburst to his mum.  
  
'No, I mean the whole shouting at your mum thing. Man, I would have just waited and gone: "Yes mother." or something like that.'  
  
Sirius looked at his friend, stunned. Then James broke into a grin, and then the next minute, he and Sirius were in hysterics. 'Got you there!' James gasped through gales of laughter.  
  
Remus looked from Sirius to James.  
  
'What the hell is so funny?' he asked, perplexed.  
  
'Oh, it's just this thing me and Sirius do.' James told him. He was always the first to recover from their laughing bouts. He looked at his watch. 'Cor Blimey! We've only got five minutes until the train sets off!' he exclaimed. Sirius and Remus looked at their watches. James was right.  
  
'We'd better say goodbye to our parents then.' Remus announced and walked out of the compartment. James looked at Sirius. Sirius said, 'My parents won't wanna say goodbye after what I've said.'  
  
James nodded, and said, 'Seeya in a min.' before running off to bid his parents farewell.  
  
A minute later there was a knock on the door and a small, fat, round-faced boy entered the compartment.  
  
'Erm,' he squeaked. 'Can I stay in here, only there's no other compartments, they're all full.'  
  
Sirius looked at the boy and was strongly reminded of a rat. 'Sure.' he said. The boy remained stood in the entrance to the compartment. 'Well sit down then.' Sirius said impatiently.  
  
The boy squeaked: 'Sorry.' and rushed to the nearest seat. He was flustered, because he was excited about Hogwarts.  
  
'I'm Peter Pettigrew.' he announced. 'Who are you?'  
  
Sirius was about to answer when the compartment door opened and Remus and James filed in, having said their farewells. James looked at Peter and then raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who responded. 'This is Peter Pettigrew. he then turned to Peter and said, 'I'm Sirius Black, and these are James Potter and Remus Lupin.'  
  
'Hi!' Peter squeaked at them enthusiastically.  
  
'Hi.' they replied.  
  
The train suddenly started moving. They were off. Peter's eyes widened in awe and he piped up a chant that went: 'We're going to Hogwarts! We're going to Hogwarts!' Remus and James however, ran to the window and waved to their parents. Sirius just stayed put, not wanting to see his family and his family not wanting to see him. Peter joined Remus and James, still chanting his Hogwarts chant. 


	3. The Journey

Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing but the story.

Chapter Three: The Journey.

After they had departed from platform nine and three-quarters, Peter looked at Sirius with a worried expression on his face and he ceased singing for a moment. Sirius, sensing that something was up, said, 'What?' rather abruptly. Peter looked at him and then asked, 'Why didn't you wave goodbye to your parents? Didn't they come or something? Do you have any parents?'  
''Course I do, that's why I'm here you dimwit.' he told Peter. 'We had an argument.' he said simply.  
'Oh.' was all Peter could manage. He then resumed to his chant. It was getting on Sirius' nerves, and he needed to take out his anger on someone, so he shouted, 'SHUT UP!' rather loudly to Peter.

This attracted the attention of Severus Snape - another first year - who was in the compartment next door to theirs. He had greasy hair and grey eyes. He walked out of his compartment and into theirs, looking from Sirius, to James, to Peter, to Remus, and then back to Sirius again. James, who had seen Snape and immediately hated him snarled, 'What do you want?'  
Snape jerked out of trance and said, 'I heard a noise, and I wanted to know what was going on.'  
'Nosy git.' James snarled at Snape. Severus ignored this and turned back to Sirius, and said with extreme dislike: 'Is it true that you shouted at your mother and said you didn't want to be in Slytherin?'  
'Yes.' Sirius said bluntly. 'Why? Have you got a problem with that?' he said, matching Snape's tone of voice.  
'Actually, I have.' Snape replied.  
'Yeah, well, I don't care whether you do or not.' Sirius retaliated.  
'Well I do!' Snape replied angrily. 'Slytherin's the best house!'  
'No it isn't.' James snarled. 'Gryffindor is. Now go away, you're polluting this compartment.' he said with as much dislike as both Sirius and Snape had used.  
Snape sniffed, and said to Sirius, 'You don't know what you're missing.' Then he left the compartment, and slammed the door closed.  
'Who was that?' James asked.  
'Severus Snape.' Remus replied. The others looked at him. 'What? I read it on his trunk when he passed by me earlier.'

James looked around. 'Okay. Now all we have to do is wait until we get to Hogwarts.'  
'But that's like ages away.' Sirius pointed out.  
'Yeah. Hey, anyone want to have a go at practising some spells?' James suggested.  
'No.' the others told him.  
'Well, we've got to keep ourselves busy somehow. We've got ages to kill!' James exclaimed.  
'How 'bout a game of gob stones?' Sirius asked. The others agreed. They played the game until the lady with the food trolley came.  
'Do you want any food, dearies?' she asked as she slid back their compartment door.  
'FOOD!' they all shouted, and got out their money to buy some. After the woman had left, they started to open their Chocolate frogs. 'Hey, I've got Dumbledore again.' Sirius commented. 'Anybody need him?'  
'No.'  
'No.'  
'No.' each of them told him.  
'Who did you all get?' Sirius asked them. They turned their cards round. They all had Dumbledore. Sirius laughed. 'Now I see why you don't need him.'  
'Now will you people practice some spells with me?' James asked impatiently after they had eaten. 'My mum hasn't told me how we get sorted, she says it's a surprise, and I don't want to be unprepared!'  
'Oh, okay.' Sirius sighed, giving in to James. 'Suppose it won't hurt.'  
The others gave in also. 'Maybe it would be better if we put our robes on first. To get the feel of them.' Remus explained. 'Plus, that way we won't have to bother putting them on at the last minute.'  
'Good idea, Remus.' Sirius said, and began taking his robe out of his trunk. The others did the same.

Once they had gotten into their robes, they began to do some spells out of the books they had bought for Hogwarts. Sirius and James found that they were extremely good at them, Remus found he was okay, and Peter found that he couldn't do them at all.  
'You'll get there Peter.' Sirius encouraged him, slapping him on the back. 'You'll get there.'  
'Speaking of getting there,' James said. 'We're almost at Hogwarts!' he yelled the last part. The others cheered and Peter began chanting again, only to receive a warning look from Sirius, who waved his wand about. Peter gulped, and stopped immediately.

There was a knock on the compartment door. A girl with red hair and green eyes opened it, and came inside. 'Can we help you?' James said, trying to act the gentleman.  
'Not really.' the girl snarled at him.  
'What's your business here?' Sirius asked her.  
'I was just going to tell you that we're going to be arriving at Hogwarts soon. I've located all the first years' compartments and I'm telling them all now.' she replied.  
'What's yer name?' James asked.  
'Lily Evans.' she informed him. 'And you?'  
'James Potter. The one and only.' he replied, smiling.  
'Well, I have other first years to inform.' she said snobbily and went to the next compartment, which, of course, was Snape's.  
Sirius turned to James. 'You're eleven years old. You don't need girlfriends yet!' he exclaimed.  
'Ah, I'm preparing for later years. Something tells me she won't give in yet.' James told him proudly. Sirius snorted. 'Preparing for later years! That's a good one!' he said, and fell about laughing.  
The train began to slow down, and Peter began chanting again. He was so content about it that he did not stop when Sirius gave him warning looks, or when he threatened to use his wand. An announcement told them that they didn't need to remove their trunks, as they would be looked after and taken to their rooms.

When the train stopped, Sirius and James raced out of the compartment, with Remus and Peter following them slowly.  
'Firs' years over here! Firs' years over here!' yelled a large man with a lantern. The boys fought their way through the crowd towards him and came to a halt at his feet. 'You lot are eager little fella's aren't yeh?' he said in a gruff voice. 'I'm Hagrid by the way.' he began yelling for the first years again. When they were all there he said. 'Come on, let's be off towards the castle. It's a beautiful site.'

'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec,' Hagrid called over his shoulder, 'jus' round this bend here.'  
Everyone looked at Hogwarts in awe.  
'Woah,' Sirius said, amazed. 'It's even better than I thought!' The others murmured in agreement and Hagrid snapped them out of their trance by saying, 'In the boats, now. No more'n four to a boat!'  
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter clambered into a boat, along with other first years, who had also grouped themselves into fours and sat themselves in the boats.  
'Everyone ready?' Hagrid asked the students when they were all on the boats. There was a chorus of yeses and other variations of the world.

Remus sat looking around for his oars when Hagrid yelled, 'FORWARDS!' and the boats suddenly started moving of their own accord towards Hogwarts, on the other side of the lake.  
'How do these things work?' Remus asked, perplexed.  
'Use your common sense' Sirius told him, 'By magic. How else?'  
'Oh yeah. 'Spose it saves our energy.' Remus admitted.  
'For what?' James asked, interested in what Remus was trying to say.  
'The Sorting, of course.' Remus said in an obvious tone of voice.

When the first years neared the cliff, Hagrid yelled, 'Heads down!' as they reached an entrance in the cliff, which was covered in ivy. The boats travelled down a dark tunnel until the small fleet arrived at a kind of underground harbour, where they scrambled on to rocks and pebbles.  
'Follow me.' Hagrid told the frightened first years, and they clambered up a passageway in the rock, following the glow of Hagrid's lamp. They arrived on some smooth, damp grass over which the castle loomed.

They walked up a flight of steps and crowded around the large, oak door.  
'Everyone here?' the first years nodded. 'Good. I'm Hagrid, yer groundskeeper by the way.' he told them, and knocked on the castle door three times.

* * *

A/N I got one review that was asking if Hagrid was a first year as well because he's leading them to Hogwarts. My answer is: no, he isn't because in the first Harry Potter book he leads the way for the first years, so I thought he'd still be doing that.

_Edit: For anyone who has been reading When the Marauders Met before January 29th, I've put Chapters 3 & 4 together, as I think they are better that way. So no, a chapter hasn't been lost!_


	4. The Sorting

Disclaimer: I own nothing :(

A/N Sorry that this is a bit later than promised; it took me ages, AGES I tell you! Please bear with me if the Sorting Hat Song is a bit crummy, I've tried to write it as best as I can, taking quite a bit from the Sorting Hat's song in Harry's first year. I'm going to try updating daily for the while, though that might change when the holidays have finished.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Sorting

The door was opened by a stern-looking woman.

'The firs' years, Professor McGonagall.' Hagrid informed her, and made his way towards somewhere beyond the oak doors.

'Thank you, Hagrid.' Professor McGonagall told the retreating figure. She then turned to the first years. 'Follow me.' She opened the oak door wider, so that the new students could get through.

James looked around. The entrance hall was big enough to fit an entire house in it!

'Woah! Look at the marble staircase! Plush or what?' Sirius commented, whispering to James, who nodded back.

McGonagall led them to a small chamber which was empty and off the hall, where they crowded together closely and peered around nervously.

Professor McGonagall began to speak. 'Welcome to Hogwarts,' she told them. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.'

She eyed Peter, who was a mess; and others in the crowd. Sirius and Remus helped him to tidy himself up whilst James nervously tried to flatten his hair.

'I wonder what sort of ceremony they have planned.' Sirius murmured to Remus, Peter and James.

'Hey, maybe they take a sample of your blood and test it to see what house you're meant to be in.' James suggested, laughing.

'Ssh!' the red haired girl they'd met earlier told them.

'Sorry.' Peter mumbled. He obviously didn't like others being angry with him.

Sirius and James just laughed, and carried on thinking up ideas.

'Hey, maybe, maybe,' Sirius gasped, 'maybe they put a wand to your head and it glows the colour of the house you're going to be in!'

'Maybe,' James interrupted, 'they put a hat on your head and it shouts out the name of the house you're going to be in.' they looked at each other. 'Nah.'

The room fell silent as Professor McGonagall re-entered the chamber. 'Form a line and follow me.'

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all got behind one another and joined the line that they were forming. They walked through the chamber doors, through the hall and into the Great Hall.

James had never seen such a spectacular place. Candles were floating mid-air, and the Great Hall looked like it had no ceiling – just the sky could be seen. Remus saw James looking at it and said, 'It's bewitched to look like the sky. I read it somewhere.' He explained.

'Cool.' James remarked. He looked around the rest of the hall. There were five long, wooden tables, one which held the staff, he presumed, and students were sat at the other four.

Professor McGonagall led them up to the staff table, and they came to a halt in front of the other students. There was also what looked like ghosts, silvery in appearance, dotted here and there among the crowd. James was looking around the crowd, intrigued by the amount of students, when Sirius nudged him in the side.

'What?' he whispered irritably. Sirius nodded towards the hat that Professor McGonagall had just placed on a stool. They burst into silent, mini-hysterics, but after a few looks from the other first years, sobered up. Everybody else was looking at the hat expectantly, so they decided to look at it too, wandering what would happen. Then suddenly, a rip near the rim of the hat opened and burst into song:

_I am the Sorting Hat  
I have a look inside  
Whoever puts me on  
Will find the house they will be in  
In which house they'll find their pride.  
Four houses will they be divided in  
Of which I will decide  
Which one, for each individual  
And not once have I lied  
Hufflepuff, the honest ones  
Are unafraid of toil  
Also they are trustworthy  
Also they are loyal  
Or maybe in Gryffindor,  
where their nerve, daring,  
and chivalry set them apart  
Gryffindor  
Is where dwell the brave at heart  
Or maybe in Ravenclaw, if you've a steady mind  
If you have wit and learning  
You'll be one of their kind  
Last but not least Slytherin,  
Where the cunning lie  
Sometimes their dirty deeds  
Really make you sigh  
So put me on! Have no fear!  
All I do is make things clear  
Though I have none; you're in safe hands  
So welcome young first years!_

Sirius smiled at James and mouthed, 'Good guess.' to him. James nodded back to show that he'd understood, while the rest of the hall applauded and cheered for the Sorting Hat's song. James and Sirius joined in, after realising they had been the only ones not clapping.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and produced a long scroll, which she began to read off. 'Arnolds, Victoria.'

A girl with blonde hair and a pale complexion stepped out of the line and put the hat on her head, sitting down on the stool. Just as she sat down, it screamed out: 'RAVENCLAW!'

The table on the left cheered, and Victoria Arnolds walked, relieved, to the table. A few more people were called up, and when Sirius' turn came, he had worked himself into a state.

'Black, Sirius.' McGonagall called, and he made his way to the hat. He perched on the stool, and rammed the hat on his head.

'Temper, temper!' the Sorting Hat warned him. 'Now, let's have a look at you. Hmm, you seem to have a thirst to prove yourself, and lots of cunning. Maybe Slytherin will be good for you…'

'No! Not Slytherin!' Sirius pleaded the hat. 'Please not Slytherin!' he grasped the edge of the stool.

'Not Slytherin? Well, if you're sure, then I'd better put you in GRYFFINDOR!' it shouted the last word, and Sirius took the hat off and walked shakily to the cheering table on the far left. He saw his cousin Andromeda cheering loudly and smiling, and he smiled back at sat next to her. She whispered in his ear, 'Well done. Breaking the family tradition.' he laughed.

'Thanks.' He whispered back.

More people were called to the hat, and suddenly it was Remus' turn.

'Lupin, Remus.' McGonagall called out.

Remus stepped up and put the hat on his head.

'Hmm, tricky. Quiet, yet seems to be chivalrous.' the Sorting Hat noted.

'That's me.' Remus thought.

'I think you would do best in GRYFFINDOR!' it shouted, and the table Sirius had gone to erupted in cheers once again.

Many more people were called up to the Hat; Dean Mohr, who became the first Slytherin boy, and Ana Nott, who became a Hufflepuff, and finally it was Peter's turn.

'Pettigrew, Peter.' Was called out, and the boy tripped before he got to the stool. James helped him up before everyone started laughing, and then resumed to his place in the line.

Meanwhile, Peter managed to get a grip on himself, and got to the stool without any further embarrassment. He slipped the hat on shyly, and waited to se what would happen.

'Where to put, where to put?' the Sorting Hat asked.

'I dunno.' Peter whispered nervously.

'Hufflepuff? Or Gryffindor? It's a tough decision, but my instincts tell me I should put you in GRYFFINDOR!'

The Gryffindor table cheered again, and Peter made his way shyly to the table.

'Potter, James.'

James walked up confidently to the chair, sat down, and put the hat on. It barely touched his head before the Hat called, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The Gryffindors had to stand up once again and cheer to welcome James into their house. James strode over and took a seat on the other side of Peter.

'Mr Predictable.' Sirius coughed, laughing.

Finally, the Sorting was over, as 'Young, Sarah' became a Hufflepuff.

The whole hall went quiet as Dumbledore rose from his seat and greeted the students. 'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!' he beamed at them. 'There is no doubt that you are as hungry as I am, so I say: tuck in.'

Food appeared on the tables, making Peter gasp with glee, and many students cheer. The Gryffindors – including James, Sirius, Remus and Peter – all reached for the many types of food before them, and tucked in.

'So, what are everyone's stories?' Andromeda, Sirius' cousin, asked the first years.

'Er, I'm a pure blood; family's been in Gryffindor for donkey's yonks.' James explained quickly. Andromeda laughed.

'I know about _you, _James!' she exclaimed. 'It's kind of hard not to know your story when all Sirius does is go on about you when he visits me!'

James and Sirius laughed with Andromeda, and then she decided to ask the others. 'What about you? You've been a bit quiet.' She said, looking at Remus inquisitively.

'Oh,' Remus started, 'I'm half-blood, but my mum and dad were in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, so they'll be surprised.' He gave a weak smile. 'That's about it.'

'And you?' Andromeda asked, looking at Peter, who hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, munching bits from the food mountain on his plate.

'Huh?' he said, halfway through a chicken drumstick.

Andromeda smiled. 'What's your story? How did you come to Hogwarts?'

Peter's eyes widened. 'Well,' he started, and paused for a while, thinking of a way to phrase his words. 'My parents thought I was a squib, but I got a letter from Hogwarts and so I couldn't be one.' he said quickly, eyeing his food.

'Is that it?' Andromeda asked disbelievingly. Peter nodded, and returned to his food eating.

After everyone had finished their main course, along came the deserts.

'So many to choose from…' Sirius sighed, almost drooling.

'You always were the one for deserts.' Andromeda laughed, shaking her head.

'How do I choose? How do I choose?' Sirius said, with a slight hint of panic in his voice.

'How 'bout,' James started, 'you close your eyes and then point at a random space and see which one you get? That's what I did.' he suggested, and indicated to his own plate, which had a slice of chocolate gateaux resting on it.

'Good idea!' Sirius exclaimed, and closed his eyes, reaching his arm out to point. He swung his arm around, and pointed unknowingly to an ice cream sundae. He opened his eyes, saw what he had chosen and laughed.

'Ice cream sundae it is!' he exclaimed, and transported it to his plate.

After everyone had finished their deserts, Dumbledore arose yet again.

'Now that you are fed and watered, I have a few notices for you:

First years should note that the forest at Hogwarts is out of bounds, as should everyone else.

'Also, there has been a new instalment to Hogwarts grounds; the Whomping Willow. Nobody should approach it, unless they wish to be injured heavily, or worse, die.

'On a lighter note, we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: Mrs Hunt. Let us give her a warm welcome.' He clapped softly, and Mrs Hunt was given a warm welcome by the rest of the school.

'Now, I suppose you are all tired, and you all need a good night's sleep before your first day of Hogwarts, so farewell for today, and sleep well.' Dumbledore said, dismissing them.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had no idea where to go in the bustle, but luckily for them, a prefect was shouting over the crowd, 'First year Gryffindors, follow me!'

They scurried over to the prefect, and followed him with a group of first year girls – including Lily, James noted – up the large, marble staircase.

They stopped at a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

'Password?' she asked.

Lily gasped. 'The pictures move and talk, it's like magic!' she exclaimed.

'It _is_ magic.' James told her, annoyed. 'What do you expect them to do anyway, stay still?'

Lily nodded.

'Oh.'

'Password?' the fat lady asked again.

'Aureus Leo.' The prefect told her. The portrait smiled, and opened up to reveal a hole in which the first year Gryffindors and the prefect climbed through, to reveal a room on the other side.

'Welcome,' he said, 'to the Gryffindor tower.'

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A/N Sorry, it was a bit later than I promised. The next chapter won't be up for a while either, because I'm going to be out in the next couple of days, but I can tell you that stuff to do with Remus and the Whomping Willow will be in it :D. 


	5. New Homes and First Days

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for Robin Hart; I had a feeling that there should be five Gryffindor boys, not four.

A/N I forgot to mention that in chapter 5 (the previous chapter) that McGonagall's speech to the first years was taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, because I decided that she has said the same speech inviting first years to Hogwarts for years, okay? Oh yeah, and I've also decided that it would be good if the marauders had the same dorm as Harry and Ron and Lily and the other girls have the same dorm as Hermione. Anyway, to the story…

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Chapter 5: New Homes and First Days

'This is your common room,' the prefect continued, 'where you can spend your spare time. Girls, your dormitories are through this door and up the stairs,' he informed them, gesturing towards a door in front of them. 'Boys, your dormitories are through the door to the right of the girls'. Now I suggest you all get a good night's sleep now, as your first day at Hogwarts begins tomorrow.'

James yawned. He was certainly tired. He saw Sirius yawning too, and laughed.

'What? Your yawning's contagious!' Sirius protested, and then looked towards the door and his fellow first years. 'Well, are we going to see our dormitories or what?' he asked impatiently.

They opened the door and climbed slowly up the spiral staircase, and, after what seemed like an age, reached the top.

'Wow! Four poster beds!' a boy James had not noticed exclaimed. The beds were, indeed, four poster beds, with red velvet curtains. He noticed the others looking at him curiously, and gave them a nonchalant look. 'I'm Robin Hart, by the way.' He told them, and walked towards the bed with his belongings near it.

'I'm James Potter.' James announced, shaking Robin's hand.

'Sirius Black.'

'Remus Lupin.'

'P-P-Peter Pettigrew.'

'Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm shattered, so I'm going to go to sleep now.' The others nodded.

'Good idea.' Sirius agreed, and the others nodded, getting changed, finally ending up in their beds. James noticed that they were incredibly comfortable, and sank into the mattress, dreaming.

'Up! Wake up!' Robin called to his roommates early in the morning. 'It's our first day; we don't want to be late!' he exclaimed. Sirius groaned.

'If you do that again, I swear I'm gonna hex you to kingdom come.' He growled, pulling his covers over him.

'Oh yeah, and how're you going to do that? You don't know any curses.' Robin retorted; pulling an ugly face at Sirius, who didn't see as his head was currently secured underneath his covers.

'That's what you think.' Sirius scowled, pulling his sheets off, standing up to have a go at Robin. 'I grew up in a house of Slytherins. You really think I haven't picked up a few curses and hexes by now, do you?'

'Woah, calm down mate,' James said, getting up to make sure that Sirius didn't do anything he would regret. Sirius scowled at Robin, and began to get dressed and ready for breakfast.

'Next, time, next time.' he muttered to himself, putting his hat on.

Peter yawned, getting up from his bed, apparently oblivious of what had happened between Sirius and Robin, said cheerfully, 'Breakfast awaits!' He bounded towards the door, but Remus decided to stop him before he embarrassed himself.

'Peter,' he began, 'are you sure you want to go down to the Great Hall in your pyjamas?' James and Sirius began sniggering, and Robin gave them a snobbish look. Peter blushed heavily.

'Oh, right. I suppose not.' Sirius and James both gave huge snorts of laughter at this, and Remus gave them a disapproving look.

'What?' James asked in a would-be-innocent voice, but Robin interrupted them, saying, 'I'm going down to breakfast now.' and walked out of the door, not noticing Sirius pretending to curse him behind his back. He closed the door, and Sirius let out a long sigh.

'Finally,' he said gladly. 'I thought that git was never going to get out of our sight.' James and Sirius both burst into laughter again.

'Have you lot ever heard of the term, 'inter-house unity'?' Remus asked them stoutly, his arms folded across his chest. Sirius and James looked at each other, and said, 'No.' very unconvincingly.

'Well, maybe you should look in a dictionary.' Remus told them.

'You guys,' Peter said weakly, 'I think I need some help here.' They all turned around to where Peter was standing, and James and Sirius didn't even bother to contain their laughter. Remus rolled his eyes and walked towards Peter. 'Honestly you two, grow up.' he said to them, irritated.

'But – but it's so funny!' Sirius exclaimed through fits of laughter. James, who was giggling by now, said, 'Yeah, it's not every day you see someone manage to put their robes on upside down!' After saying this, a fresh wave of laughter engulfed him. 'I'm sorry,' he said, gasping for air. 'It's just so hilarious!'

Remus made a tutting sound, and began to help Peter out of his robes. 'Come on, just lift your left leg out of the arm hole, and you can put it on the right way around.' Remus said sympathetically to Peter. _Poor guy,_ he thought. After Peter had freed his left leg, Remus helped him put the robes on the other way, and turned to Sirius and James, who were nowhere in sight. He turned back to Peter, and asked, 'Where did they go?'

Peter replied by saying, 'Oh, they left for breakfast. Didn't you see them leave?' Remus shook his head. 'Oh.' Peter said, looking at Remus in a pathetic way.

'We should be going to breakfast, we're already –' Remus began, looking at his watch, '-five minutes late.' He ended, and dragged Peter across the dormitory, down the staircase, through the common room and towards the Great Hall. They reached the table huffing and puffing, and made their way next to James and Sirius. Remus gave them an annoyed glance, which made Sirius open his mouth to apologise, but instead he ended up spraying his breakfast over everybody.

'Ew, gross!' Andromeda exclaimed from across the table. 'Sirius!' she looked at him angrily, along with a handful of other Gryffindors who had been sprayed with Sirius' food.

James snorted, having managed to be spray-free himself, and turned to Remus. 'What he meant to say,' he began, 'was: 'the prospect of food was too much for us, so we left you. Sorry.'' he smiled at Sirius, and only just managed to stop himself from laughing. Remus nodded, accepting their somewhat odd apology, realising that nothing would come between the two and food.

'Oh, you two,' Andromeda began, 'here's your school timetables.' She passed them a piece of paper each, and Remus looked at it to see what lesson they had first. 'Double potions.' he said out loud, and Andromeda grimaced.

'Rather you than me.' she said, looking at her timetable. 'I've got, let's see… Charms.' she gave a little smile. 'This'll be fun.'

'Why?' the four of them asked her, but she just shook her head, dismissing them. She immediately tried to change the subject.

'Who're you having Potions with?' she asked, Remus.

'Professor Frux.' he told her. She gave a little laugh.

'I know who's teaching you. I meant what house are you doing the lesson with? Hufflepuff? Ravenclaw? Slytherin?' she asked them quickly.

Peter groaned and said, 'Slytherin.' The others groaned as well.

'Slytherins are just so stuck up!' James exclaimed, and then glanced at Sirius. 'Er, sorry.' he mumbled.

'Sorry? Just what for? I'm not a Slytherin!' Sirius exclaimed, and laughed at James' expression. 'Seriously mate, if you want to have a go at Slytherin, then please do. I don't give one hoot about what you say about them. It's not as if I'm proud to be related to my family!'

'Hey!' Andromeda protested from across the table.

'Except the non-Slytherin members.' Sirius added, grinning at his cousin, who grinned back.

'Good!' she exclaimed. For the rest of the breakfast, they spent their time wondering about what the lessons would be like, with Andromeda telling them what to expect. Finally, the bell rang, and students filed out of the Great Hall – some light-hearted, some with frowns on their faces. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter made their way towards the dungeons, and managed to get to their potions room in ten minutes. Other first years were already waiting outside in the corridor.

'Sirius.' sneered a girl with tangled black hair, who - James noticed - resembled his best friend slightly.

Sirius scowled. 'Bellatrix.' he addressed her.

'I got an owl from your mum today,' the girl named Bellatrix informed Sirius, 'and guess what? She wants me to make sure you keep in line, and was frankly disgusted at your behaviour just before we left for Hogwarts.' she had a smirk on her face, and Sirius was still scowling, his teeth clenched.

'What's up Sirius?' she asked mockingly. 'Family tradition finally got to you? Finally realised you're a traitor?' Her Slytherin friends around her started giggling, including Severus Snape, who was howling in laughter.

'What d'you find so funny?' James scowled at Severus, his face full of rage. Severus, who had no one to back him up (he was still a social disaster even with those from his own house), stuttered, 'N-nothing.'

James looked him up and down. 'Good.' he spat. The door to their potions classroom opened, and in the doorway stood a stern looking wizard. 'Hello,' he said, startling some of the students who hadn't noticed him. 'And welcome to your potions lesson. You may call me Professor Frux. Come in, come in and sit down.'

James, Sirius, Peter and Remus all sat on the same row, waiting eagerly for their first lesson at Hogwarts to begin. Once the class had settled down, Professor Frux spoke. 'Again, welcome to Potions. Potions are very powerful things, when brewed properly. I can teach you many things, from bottling fame to brewing glory, and even putting a stopper to death. However, you will need to learn to make some more basic potions first, so that you can progress to the others.' He waved his wand, and some instructions came up on the board. 'Today we are going to make a simple potion. Instructions and ingredients are on the board; I will be coming around to help you.'

The students fetched their ingredients, and began to follow the instructions. After that, the lesson was pretty uneventful, except for when Peter managed to burn a hole in his cauldron and had 5 points taken from Gryffindor for carelessness.

Next on the timetable was Defence Against the Dark Arts. James and Sirius were eager to see what this lesson would be like, as they had heard from Andromeda that they were excellent. However, they had also heard that the job was jinxed, and that no one teacher had managed to teach there for more than one year in a long time.

Their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was Mrs Hunt, who was the new professor at Hogwarts, a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman. She made the lesson lively, and it certainly lived up to Andromeda's words.

History of Magic, however, was nowhere near as exciting. Professor Binns droned on about, about something (James wasn't concentrating on what the Professor was talking about, he was concentrating on falling asleep), and no one listened except for Lily Evans, and at some times, Remus.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter's first week went by with surprises, for example: the fact that they had to get up in the middle of the night for an Astronomy lesson on a Wednesday. Peter had not stirred when they had tried various methods of awakening him, and was therefore absent for the lesson.

Transfiguration had caught Sirius and James' eye as well as Defence Against the Dark Arts. Although the teacher – Professor McGonagall – was a stern woman, the lessons were no doubt interesting. Remus worried about James and Sirius' reaction to it though – they seemed to have hunger in their eyes when they were turning their matches into needles, and they had been the only ones to actually do something to them.

Herbology and Charms were good lessons too – they learnt about magical plants and Sirius, James and Lily managed to make them feathers fly in their Charms lesson, making Professor Flitwick very impressed (he had never had more than one student attempt the spell in their first lesson and execute it).

James was looking forward to the last lesson of the week: Flying. He had become almost restless during their lessons, fidgeting, impatient for the lesson to come. However, there was one drawback: the lesson was scheduled to be with the Slytherins. Many of the Gryffindor first years had moaned about this, but the prefects had just told them to 'quit whining'.

At three-thirty that afternoon, the Gryffindor first years made their way through the grounds towards the lawn on the opposite side of the grounds from the Forbidden Forest. There, Madame Hooch – their flying teacher – and the Slytherins were waiting for them. Madame Hooch welcomed them to their flying lesson, and then began teaching them the basics – how to sit on your broom, etc. Then, it was time to push off and fly. Madame Hooch checked that their grips were right, correcting those whose grip wasn't. Then she said, 'Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard,' said Madame Hooch. 'Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle – three – two – one!' She blew her whistle, and the students pushed themselves off of the ground. However, Peter pushed off and lost control, followed by Severus Snape, who seemed just as bad. James did exactly as Madame Pomfrey said, and landed back on the floor within a few seconds, as did Sirius, who took a bit longer.

When everyone had landed, and Severus and Peter were untangled from a bush, Professor McGonagall came up to the class and asked for Remus. 'A word with Remus Lupin, please.' she said, beckoning to him. Sirius and James gave him worried looks, but he did not return them. He knew what this was going to be about.

Remus followed McGonagall to her office, and sat down when he was told to. 'Now, Master Lupin, I am sure that you know what this is going to be about.'

Remus nodded. 'It's about my being a werewolf. What am I going to do?' he asked her simply.

There was a knock on the door, and Madame Pomfrey entered. She was the school's matron. 'Ah, I see the boy is here.' she said, looking at Remus sympathetically. Remus looked at her questioningly, and then back to Professor McGonagall, who began to explain. 'The headmaster has decided that this is what shall happen:

'On the evening of the full moon - before the sun has set – Madame Pomfrey will take you over to the Whomping Willow. There, Madame Pomfrey will use a stick to prod the knot at the base of the trunk which will stop the tree from moving. She will keep the twig on the knot until you have made your way into the tree, down a tunnel just underneath one of the roots.

'Then, you shall make your way down the tunnel until you get to the end of it, where you will come across a boarded up house. This is where you shall stay and transform overnight.

'On the evening of the next day, Madame Pomfrey will come to collect you, so that it will look like you have been out of the school to visit your ill mother or something else. Do you understand?'

Remus nodded, and looked at the calendar on Professor McGonagall's wall. Of course … He'd forgotten that today was the full moon – he'd been getting used to being a normal person.

Professor McGonagall saw him looking at the calendar and said, 'After dinner tonight, you will meet Madame Pomfrey in the Hospital Ward. That is what you will do every month.' Remus nodded to show his acknowledgement.

The bell rang to signify the end of the lesson. McGonagall stirred, and told Remus, 'You may go to your common room now.'

Remus nodded once again, got out of his chair, and left the room, returning to the common room. When the others asked him why he was pulled out of the lesson, he replied, 'Professor McGonagall came to tell me that my mother was ill. I'm leaving to see her after dinner tonight, and I'll be back tomorrow afternoon.'

'Shame.' Sirius told him. 'You missed James doing some wicked flying.' Peter agreed emphatically and James tried to be modest, but ended up boasting about what he had done, earning some disapproving looks from Lily and the other Gryffindor girls.

Remus looked at his watch. 'It's time for dinner.' he told them, and jumped up, speeding out of the portrait and towards the Great Hall. Sirius and James were surprised. They were the ones who usually noticed when it was time for food. They shrugged, and made their way towards dinner.

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A/N: Sorry I've been so long updating, I've had school, and I kept getting writer's block every time I wanted to have a go at writing something. But now the holidays have returned, and I can rest and write! Yay for me! I took a few things that the teachers said from the first Harry Potter book, i.e. what Madame Hooch said and I decided that Snape can get his inspiration for his introduction to his lessons, from his Potions teacher. Anyway, I'm going to start working on the next chapter, it should be up soon. I think it'll be quite short, because it'll be mainly about Remus and turning into a werewolf. I'm also going to start working some more on my newer fanfic, although I've barely started the first chapter.

Thank you guys for the reviews!


	6. Transformations

A/N Yeah! It's back to the holidays and writing fan fiction. Oh yeah! I'd like to apologise for grammar once again, but I am only 14 years old and I am trying my best. So, this chapter's mostly about Remus, but there will be a bit about Robin in it as well evil grin. To the story …

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

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Chapter 6: Transformations

Remus carried on surprising Sirius and James by eating his food at a break-neck speed and then waiting impatiently for the others to finish.

'Geez, Remus, what's gotten into you today?' Sirius asked him. Remus just shook his head and said, 'I want to see my mum.' He then continued to stare at his plate, as he had been for the past ten minutes.

After what seemed and eternity to Remus, dinner was over and he was finally able to make his way down to the Hospital Ward, where Madame Pomfrey would be.

'Ah, Remus, you're just in time. The sun is almost down!' she exclaimed, tapping her foot as Remus arrived. 'We'd better get going.' she told him, and they began to make their way to the Whomping Willow.

If anyone had been watching them, they would have seen the two figures walk across the ground, towards a tree that looked particularly menacing, and began to stir when they approached. Then, they would have seen the eldest of the two pick up a rather long twig and poke a knot at the bottom of the tree with it.

The tree froze immediately when Madame Pomfrey poked the knot at the bottom, and Remus sighed in relief. The school matron looked at him and said, 'Now go!' He nodded and made his way to a large root, and saw that there was a large hole for him to go through. He clambered into it, and followed the dirty underground tunnel until he came to a room. Inside, the windows were boarded up, and there was some furniture: a table and some chairs.

Remus sat down in one of the chairs, and waited unhappily for the full moon. Moments later, the moonlight made its way through the cracks in the boarded up windows, and he went rigid. It was happening again. His limbs began to shake uncontrollably, and he let out a scream of pain. It hurt. It always did hurt. He started to snarl. His head and body lengthened, and his shoulders were hunching. Hair began sprouting everywhere; and his hands curled into paws. After more snarling, Remus' transformation was complete. He was a werewolf.

After Remus had left, James, Sirius and Peter began to make their way out of the Great Hall, but saw Robin head towards Dumbledore, and then speaking with him.

'Wonder what that's all about.' Sirius muttered to James and Peter. Peter shrugged, and James just stared at Robin and Dumbledore, trying to hear their conversation. However, they were at the other side of the Great Hall so James couldn't hear a word. He came out of his stupor after a while and then looked at Sirius and Peter. 'Where'd Remus go?' he asked, dazed.

'He went to see his mum, remember?' Sirius asked him.

'Oh yeah,' James said, remembering. 'I forgot for some reason.' he shrugged, and saw Dumbledore and Robin approaching.

Robin smirked at them. James, Sirius and Peter were bound to get told off by Dumbledore after what he'd just told him.

'Masters Potter, Black and Pettigrew,' Dumbledore began, looking at the three through his glasses. 'Would you be so kind as to accompany Master Hart and I to my office for a word?' They nodded, and silently followed their headmaster, reaching a stone gargoyle.

Fizzing Whizbees.' Dumbledore said, causing the gargoyle to move to the side, revealing a moving spiral staircase.

All four boys gasped. So _this_ was where Dumbledore lived! Well, it was actually the entrance to where Dumbledore lived, but still, it was enough to make them gasp.

'Come now," Dumbledore told them, and stood on the staircase. The four boys followed him immediately, wondering what they would encounter at the top.

Once there, they made their way through the doorway and into Dumbledore's office. The headmaster sat down at his desk, conjuring up chairs so that the boys could sit down as well.

'Mr Black, Mr Hart here tells me that you threatened to curse him this morning.' He began. Sirius groaned.

'That's the reason you brought us up here, Professor? Geez, I was tired and grumpy this morning, I'm not very good at getting up. I was just sleepy, that's all.' Sirius told the headmaster, and looked at James.

'Yeah, Siri here's not really the morning person, if you're asking my opinion, Professor.' James dutifully added, grinning back at Sirius.

Dumbledore nodded. 'That is understandable. I sometimes feel a little antisocial in a morning as well, Mr Black.'

Robin looked rather disheartened. Sirius grinned. 'Is that all then, Professor?' he said, turning to leave.

'Not at all.' The Headmaster replied. 'You will not receive a punishment this time, Mr Black, but do be careful of your behaviour. Also, Mr Hart here would like to be re-sorted, so I think that you gentlemen should witness what house he should go into.'

(AN: crappy storyline, I know, but bear with me guys)

Peter looked rather startled at this. He looked at Robin, who nodded, with a small scowl on his face. These people were _imbeciles_. He'd much rather be in another house. He looked over to Professor Dumbledore, who had summoned the Sorting Hat with a twinkle in his eye. The Headmaster passed the hat to Robin, who put it on shakily.

'Back so soon?' the Sorting Hat asked. Robin nodded, and gulped. The Sorting Hat scared him. 'You shouldn't have been so impatient when you tried me on the first time now, should you?' It said, and laughed. When Robin had tried the Sorting Hat on for the first time, he had rushed the Sorting Hat into sorting him quickly, just so that he could get it off of him. The Sorting Hat had been torn between sorting him into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Since Robin had been so impatient, it had shouted out the first house out of the two that he thought of, that being Gryffindor. This time, it decided to go for the other option.

'Ravenclaw.' It said a bit louder, since they were no longer in the Great Hall, and only had a small audience. Sirius raised his eyebrow, and looked at James, who shrugged, and then at Peter, who just gave him a frightful look. Robin took the Sorting Hat off of his head, and handed it back to Dumbledore, who put it back on a shelf. He looked to the three Gryffindors, and said, 'You may go back to your dorm now. Mr Hart, I would like to have an extra word with you.'

James, Sirius and Peter left the office, not saying a word. Once they were out of earshot, however, Sirius jumped up and down in the air and whooped. James laughed at him, and Peter smiled uncertainly, not sure of what was going on.

'No more of that smarmy git then!' Sirius laughed, and James and Peter laughed along with him. They made their way back to the Gryffindor common room, and entertained themselves until it was time for bed.


	7. Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 7: Decisions, Decisions

Remus woke up, clothes torn and tattered. He sighed, and began to sit up and make his way out when a voice behind him said, 'Oh good, you're awake. I've brought you some fresh clothes, although next time, don't wear your robes, you don't have as many of them.'

Remus was startled at first, but turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. 'Thank you, Madame Pomfrey. I'll remind myself to bring some up next time.' He smiled weakly, and stood up uncertainly, all energy drained from him. Madame Pomfrey gave him a sympathetic look.

'Here.' She handed him a small glass. 'It's pepper-up potion; drink it. It'll make you feel a bit better.' Remus nodded understandingly, and drank the potion in one gulp. He immediately found himself feeling less drained and smiled gratefully at Madame Pomfrey, who smiled back. 'Feel any better?' she asked, and he answered with a nod. 'Go and get yourself changed then!' she exclaimed, passing him his clothes. He complied, and changed in seconds in another room. Madame Pomfrey looked at the boy carefully; he had scratches everywhere.

'You need to come to the infirmary with me first, boy. Don't let yourself be seen though; otherwise people will start asking questions.' Remus nodded, and followed her out of the House, through the tunnel, and back to the Hospital Ward. Inside, Madame Pomfrey treated Remus' cuts and checked him over, before deciding that he was now fine.

Just when Remus was about to leave, he remembered something. 'Madame Pomfrey?' he asked quietly. She looked up from her paperwork.

'Yes?' she replied, wondering what he was going to say.

'Won't my friends find it weird that I left to "see my mum" quite late and return back so early?' he wondered, trying in his mind to think of a plausible excuse.

'Tell them that she wanted to make sure you were back in time for your lessons in the morning.' The matron told him. He sighed.

'They won't believe that. Surely it would take me ages to get from Hogwarts to my home?' he looked at her, defeated, but she laughed.

'Remus Lupin, are you telling me you've never heard of the night bus?' he shook his head, wide-eyed.

'What's that?'

'Basically, it's a Wizarding bus which takes you from A to B, but quickly, by some form of apparition magic. If your friends ask you what the ride was like, tell them it was fast, scary and unbelievably jolty. Remus nodded, repeating the words.

'Fast, scary, unbelievably jolty. Got it.' He looked up at her, and smiled. 'Thanks Madame Pomfrey!'

She waved her hand, as dismissing the thought, and looked at him sincerely. 'One word of advice: if you think that your friends will be suspicious, tell them the truth.'

Remus gave her a disbelieving look. 'But then they'll hate me for being what I am.'

'Or they'll find it extremely "cool" to have a friend who's a werewolf, if I know your age group correctly.' Madame Pomfrey said encouragingly.

Remus nodded, and then shook his head. 'Maybe.' He said in a quiet voice. 'Thanks for the advice anyway.' He told her and made his way out. Stopping at the door, he said, 'I'll be going to breakfast then.' Madame Pomfrey looked up from her paperwork once again.

'You do that. You need food to get your strength back up.'

'I will.' And with that, Remus left the Hospital Wing, and walked towards the Great Hall to get his breakfast. He sighed. Should he tell his friends or not? _Decisions, decisions,_ he thought to himself.

Somehow, James, Sirius and Peter had got out of bed _on time. _They had dressed (Peter had managed it this morning), and were now setting off for breakfast.

Walking down the hallway, Sirius decided to make conversation. 'I wonder how Remus is doing.'

James, who had been daydreaming about the breakfast he was going to have in a few minutes, said, 'What? Oh, yeah, he's probably fine. What about his mum though?' Sirius shrugged. 'She must be like, fatally ill if he needed to see her.' Sirius and Peter nodded. 'Or she's like, got some kind of condition.' He shrugged, deciding that this conversation took up too much thought for the morning, and went back to his previous state of mind. _Mmm…__ Kippers…_ he thought.

Sirius, realising that James was going to say no more on the matter decided not to say another word until they got to their seats at the Great Hall. Peter bobbed along happily, albeit sleepily. Life so far, was good for him, and so he was happy. The three of them carried on through Hogwarts in silence, eager to get to the food. All three of them were surprised, therefore, when they ambled into the Great Hall and spotted none other than Remus Lupin already at the Gryffindor table, halfway through his second slice of toast.

Sirius, James and Peter all sat down in silence, confused, until James finally said, 'What are you doing here Remus?'

Remus looked at James, and laughed heartily. 'Well, James, I do believe that what I'm doing here is eating my breakfast!' his mood had brightened since he had first entered the Great Hall; nobody had given him strange or frightened looks, and he was fully confident that nobody had seen him last night, or in the morning either. He could still use his alibi.

James gave him a haughty look. 'How come you're back so early?' he asked eagerly.

'Mum wanted me back at Hogwarts in time for my morning lessons.' Remus said bluntly.

'Oh?' Sirius asked, looking at Remus suspiciously.

Remus gave him a steely look. 'It wouldn't do me good if I was late for lessons on my second day of school, would it?'

Sirius returned the look, and said, 'I suppose it wouldn't.' He was satisfied with Remus' answer. 'So how'd you get there?' he asked, suddenly curious.

'Knight Bus.' Remus replied. Peter perked up at this.

'What was it like?' He asked excitedly.

'Fast, scary, unbelievably jolty.' He told them, without any enthusiasm. Sirius narrowed his eyes, which Remus spotted, and so said quickly, 'I'm tired, no more questions please.'

James grimaced, but then turned to his food, as did Sirius and Peter. All three of them ate kippers that morning, whilst Remus made his way steadily through slices of toast.

When he'd finished, Sirius stood up. 'Ready for our second day of school?' he asked. The others nodded. Only then did Remus realise.

'Where's that Robin guy?'

'The smarmy git? He moved to Ravenclaw, we'll tell you the story on the way to … Charms. Can't believe you missed it! You should have been there!' Sirius began, and rambled all the way to Charms about Robin and how he moved houses and the whole I-didn't-get-in-trouble-thing.

The day came and went, and Remus began to relax even more. He would only go for one night, and be back the next day, and his friends would believe that his mum was ill, or he'd make up another excuse. Plain and simple.

More days came and went. Soon, it was three weeks since Remus had transformed into a werewolf and back, and the four boys began to get into a routine: Remus would wake them up in the morning, then they would make their way to breakfast, then to lessons, and the day would pass by. Then the same would happen the next day, and the day after that, until it had become the norm.

'Peter! Pass the salt, will you?' James asked Peter, while Remus and Sirius were chatting about Quidditch across the table. Once he had flavoured up his food, James looked at his friends and asked, 'What have we got today?'

Remus turned his head from Sirius, and tutted. 'James, you really should memorise your timetable, or at least carry it with you.'

James laughed, and said, 'I do have it with me; I just can't be bothered to get it out of my bag.'

'That's the problem with Gryffindors, see, they're too lazy to do anything. Also, they're big-headed prats who think they own the ground they walk on.' Severus Snape drawled from behind them. James and Sirius scowled at him, whereas Remus tried to ignore him, and carried on eating his breakfast.

'Well at least we're not slimy and greasy like you are.' Sirius retorted.

Snape sneered at him, saying, 'I see you're not denying what I've just said.'

'Yeah? I _am_ denying what you said; you're just too blind, and _Slytherin_ to see it!' Sirius spat back. James looked confused for a few seconds, and then nodded, agreeing to what his best friend had said.

'Me? Stupid? Look at what _you _just said!' Snape laughed, and walked away. Remus looked up again, and sighed.

'You should just ignore him. He'll just taunt you more if it winds you up more.' He told them.

Sirius and James scoffed. 'Ignore him? _Ignore him?_ He just called my best mate _stupid! _And I'm just meant to _ignore_ him?' James ranted angrily.

'Well in all due respect, Sirius did call Snape stupid as well - '

'Yeah but, right - ' James began, and then shook his head. 'Enough of this, revenge is needed. What say you, Sirius?' he asked his best friend, grinning.

'Aye, says I.' Sirius relied, grinning back. 'What did you have in mind?'

'Oh, I don't know, I glass of water poured over the head, maybe?' James suggested.

'Too plain.' Sirius said with a wave of his hand.

'How about we twist him upside down so that everyone can see his underpants?'

'Too complicated. Maybe in another year.' Both James and Sirius grinned at this.

'How about…' James leant over the table to whisper in Sirius' ear, Sirius laughed.

'Maybe, maybe.' He said mysteriously, still laughing.

Remus, sensing trouble said, 'Guys, don't -' the bell rang, and Sirius, James and Peter jumped out of their seats to get to class. '- do something stupid.' Remus finished lamely, before getting out of his chair and making his way to class.

* * *

A/N YAY! Finally! I am _so, so _sorry I haven't updated! I promised that I would update in a week, but my computer kind of went bust, and so I couldn't update because they were on my computer. Also, I was very busy in the last month. I actually got my new computer on Christmas Day, but have been going to friends and family ever since, but now I am back! I should be updating soon, because it's the holidays, so watch out for the next chapter soon! Sirius and James will be pulling a prank on Snape :)

Please review! I would be honoured if you did!


	8. Revenge

Chapter 8: Revenge

'Sirius, James, I really don't think you should do this!" Remus protested, whilst running after the pair of grinning boys who were heading down to the library. "It's really not a good idea! You could get a _detention!_"

Sirius laughed and stopped running. "Ooh, detention, scary." He said, pretending to sound scared. James laughed at him.

"Come on Sirius, Snape could be at the library right now, and we could miss the opportune moment to get him!" He said impatiently, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet. Remus sighed.

"This is really not a good idea, you know." He told them, annoyed.

"Whatever you say, Remus." Sirius said, not really paying attention to his friend. At that moment, Peter came stumbling around the corner. "Peter!" Sirius called out. "Where've you been?" Peter looked at the three guiltily, and then at the ground.

"Kitchens." He said shortly, and his eyes darted to the door nearest him.

"The Kitchens?" James asked. "How'd you get in there?"

"I – er – I…" Peter stuttered, trying to walk to the door nearest him, but James advanced on him.

"Peter, you're our friend, aren't you? And friends tell each other where the kitchens are." James told him, smiling.

Peter's eyes lit up. "Really?" James nodded. "Well, when you get to the main staircase, you take the door to the right of it, and carry down until you see this painting of a bowl of fruit. Then you tickle the pear – it giggles, it's funny – and then it turns into a door handle! My uncle told me where to go before I came to Hogwarts. He knows I can get quite peckish." Peter said bashfully. Sirius laughed.

"That's great, Peter! Now since you're here, we need your help in doing something…" he said deviously, and carried on. "We're going to do something to Snape while he's in the library, and we'll need your help."

"Don't do it Peter, you'll all get into trouble." Remus told him, sounding bored.

"That's where you and Peter come in, my dear Remmie." James told them, whilst Remus scowled at the nickname. "You're going to be _look-outs_."

"Look-outs?" Peter asked, confused.

"Look-outs." Sirius confirmed as he stood by James. "See, we're going to be concentrating on getting revenge on Snape, so we won't see Madam Pince if she sees us. So, we need you to warn us if she's coming along by shooting green stars out of your wand."

"Count me out." Remus said, exasperated, and began walking off.

"Where're you going?" Sirius called after him.

"Library." Remus called back. Sure, he was going to the library, but he had homework to do, and he also wanted to see if there were any cures for his lycanthropy at Hogwarts that Dumbledore might have missed.

Sirius watched him, confused. "Aren't we going there?" James nodded. "Strange. So, Pete, you up for it?"

"Okay." Peter replied nervously.

James looked at him and said, "Remember, we're counting on you if Madam Pince is nearby." He smiled. "No pressure."

Peter whimpered quietly, but followed the mischief-makers as they headed towards the library. They climbed the stairs, only slightly behind Remus who was determined to ignore them and pretend that they were not, in fact, playing a prank on Severus Snape. He strode into the library to the section on magical creatures, and began looking for books on werewolves. Soon, he found a couple, and sat down at the nearest desk, and began to scan the contents page on anything that would help to cure a werewolf.

Meanwhile, Sirius, James and Peter were snooping around the shelves trying to find Severus Snape. So far, they had not succeeded.

"How about the Magical Creatures Section?" Sirius suggested. "He might be trying to find out what kind of creature his hair is!" James and Peter laughed at this, but Sirius put his finger to his mouth, indicating that they should be quiet. They tiptoed around the shelves, but soon James whispered, "Do we have to tiptoe? We'll look a bit suspicious to Madam Pince if we do."

"Okay, just walk quietly then. And pretend that we're searching for a book." Sirius whispered back. He pulled out a random book on the shelf next to him, but soon replaced it, pretending to look like it wasn't the book he was looking for. They carried on, walking slowly, and randomly looking at books, until they reached their destination. They were in luck. Severus Snape had entered the section a few moments before they had.

Remus inwardly groaned. He'd seen Snape, and then Sirius, James and Peter hiding at the bookshelves nearest to him.

"Hey! Remus is there!" Sirius whispered to the other two. "Wonder what he's reading, looks like something on werewolves. I don't remember us doing on werewolves!" he exclaimed quietly. James raised an eyebrow at this.

"Maybe he's just interested in them. Look, there's Snape! Peter, you go around the bookshelves to the other side, and watch for Madam Pince!" he ordered. "Remember, green stars."

Peter nodded. "Green stars, green stars…" he muttered, walking towards the place where he was to look out.

"Sirius, you ready?" James whispered to his friend behind him. Sirius replied with a quick yes, and both of them raised their wands. "After three." James instructed. "One, two, three!"

Simultaneously, Sirius and James swished and flicked, saying the charm, "_Wingardium__ Leviosa!_" The book that Snape had been reaching for slid out of the shelf, and floated upwards. When they saw the bewildered look on his face, James and Sirius sniggered. Snape reached forward to grasp the book which was just above him, but with a flick of his wand, James directed it just out of his reach.

Remus, who had been reading one of the many books piled next to him, heard the book sliding out of the shelf, and James and Sirius' snickering. He sighed and leant back on his chair, looking around for Peter, who was nowhere to be seen. Remus sighed again. _So much for their look-out._ He smiled, amused. _Why they trusted Peter to be a look-out, I'll never know!_ He then leaned back over the desk, picking up a book and pretending to read whilst actually regarding the scene over the top of it. He was just in time to see Sirius flick his wand upwards, levitating the book over Snape's head. Remus also saw something that made him almost laugh, and made him want to say, "I told you so!" to the two troublemakers. Instead, he grabbed his wand, deciding to give them a hint, and began to write the words, "behind you," with it. James saw this, and wondered what Remus was doing, and if it was to do with his book-reading. Then he realised. He slowly turned his head, and sure enough, what he had realised was true. He tapped Sirius on the shoulder. "Sirius…"

"Yeah, mate?" Sirius asked, eyes focussed on the book above Snape's head that the greasy-haired boy was jumping up and down to try to reach.

"Drop the book." James said bluntly.

Sirius laughed as quietly as he could manage, and said, "What an idea! James, you have the best ideas sometimes."

James smiled weakly behind Sirius' back. "Just hurry up, will you?"

"Will do." Sirius said, and lifted the charm off of the book. It fell through the air, only to land with a loud bump on Severus Snape's head. Remus smirked from behind his book, but hid it quickly, and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Mr Potter, Mr Black." A stern female voice said from behind them. "That is not how you treat books."

* * *

A/N: I think this is possibly the quickest I have ever updated this story. 3 and a half weeks! Wooh!

10 points to the house of your choice if you can guess who the "stern, female voice" was. I know, I know, it's easy!

How's this story going? What do you think of it? Please tell, by reviewing! Thankyou :D


	9. Once You Pop You Can't Stop

**_A/N: This chapter was originally going to be called "First Time For everything," which sounded quite boring, so I decided to go for the good ol' Pringles slogan, which should probably be noted as not mine, but Pringles'!_**

**_A/N 2: I'm so sorry for not updating in 6 months! I don't have any proper excuses either! I apologise thoroughly, and hope that this chapter will be good enough for you guys! I've got holidays now, so I should be able to update at least once more before September. ENJOY!_**

**_Sorry if everyone is slightly confused, but I merged one chapter into another, because it was really small. This was going to be Chapter 10, and isn't now. Um, yeah, so I'll get on with the story now._**

Chapter 9: Once You Pop You Can't Stop

James gulped and both Sirius and he turned around. Standing there was the librarian, looking very angry indeed.

"Ah, Mrs Pince - " Sirius started,

"Detention, for the both of you. Now get out of the library. OUT!" Madame Pince half-yelled, ushering the boys towards the front of the library. They ran, scared that she might turn them into girls or hex them to oblivion.

Remus watched them leave with a smug smile on his face. He then decided it was getting late, and packed all of his things away. He started to walk out of the library, but not before spotting Peter, who looked very confused. When the young boy saw Remus, however, his face lit up and he waddled quickly over to the werewolf.

"Remus!" he exclaimed. Remus nodded. "I got lost." Peter stated with a crestfallen face. "I wasn't a very good look-out, was I?" Remus gave him a pitying smile and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter anyway, 'cause they would've been seen by Madame Pince since she has eyes like a hawk. Also, it wasn't your fault they got a detention, you got lost. It's understandable." Remus assured him. Peter's eyes widened.

"They got a detention? Oh no, they are going to hate me! They're going to hate me, they're going to hate me…" he started to chant, pacing backwards and forwards in front of Remus.

"They're not going to hate you Peter, they're your friends! They'll forgive you, 'cause that's what friends do." Remus told the boy, grabbing him by the shoulders to stop his pacing. He made Peter look him in the eyes, and said, "They won't hate you Peter." Peter nodded. A question suddenly came to Remus' mind. "How did you get lost?" he asked the smaller boy.

"All the books looked the same and so did the bookshelves and I didn't know where I was meant to go even though they told me to go to the opposite one but I didn't know which one that was and - " Peter rambled, but Remus cut in mid-sentence.

"Okay, okay, I get you. Do you want to get back to the tower? It's nearly curfew, and we don't want to get detention now, do we?" he asked Peter, who shook his head. "Let's go then." They exited the library, and made their way to the Gryffindor Tower – Remus had to tell Peter that Sirius and James didn't hate him at least ten more times before they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?"

"Aureus Leo."

Sirius and James weren't in the common room; Remus decided that they would be in their dorm, so he proceeded up the stairs dragging Peter along with him. Sirius and James were sat on James' bed close together with worried faces. They didn't know what the detentions entailed, but they had heard stories and none of them were good. When Remus and Peter entered, they jumped at the noise and looked at Remus guiltily. Remus shrugged and Peter ran over them and knelt on his feet. He began to grovel for their forgiveness but they stopped him before he got barely two words out.

"Pete, it was okay. We weren't being careful anyway. Now we're going to rot and die in detention." James said, a sad look on his face. Peter's however, had brightened and he nodded ok before rushing down the stairs to nick some chocolate frogs from some other Gryffindors. After the door closed, there was a long, heavy silence. James and Sirius fidgeted on the bed whilst Remus watched them.

"I told you so." He said smugly before jumping behind his own bed, barely missing a pillow thrown at him by Sirius. This was followed by laughter and a full-out pillow fight. Soon after, the room was covered in feathers and three worn out boys were asleep in their beds.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Sirius received his detention slip by owl. It read: 

_Mr Black, _

_Your detention will be tonight at __8.00pm__. Your punishment will be given to you at the Library then._

_Madame Pince_

James soon received his too, and both groaned at the prospect of the punishment they were going to get later that night. Remus gave them a look that clearly said "I told you so," and Peter was giving them a pitying look. They didn't like that at all. Peter should be the one _receiving_ pitying looks, not _giving _them. Remus suddenly stood up.

"Come on you guys, if we don't go now, we'll be late for our lesson!" Soon, the other three were up and following Remus.

The day went by too quickly for Sirius and James. Every lesson had gone whizzing past and they now had half an hour until it was time for their detention. Sirius was pacing in the dorm room as James watched him anxiously. Never before had he seen his best friend this nervous. He looked at his watch, and smiled weakly.

"It's half seven." He stated. Sirius carried on pacing. "Do you think we should set off now?" James asked. "It'd look good if we were early and also if we get lost or stuck or confused then we'll have enough time to find our way again." Sirius nodded, seemingly incapable of speaking. James stood up. "Let's go then." Sirius nodded again, and they set off out of their dormitory, out of the common room and towards the Library.

Despite Sirius and James' thoughts that they were bound to get held up somewhere and get to the Library late, the two friends arrived fifteen minutes early. Unsure of what to do, they entered the Library and made their way towards Madame Pince, who looked up at the sound of footsteps at the least busy time of the day. She raised an eyebrow when she saw James and Sirius. "You two are early." She stated. Sirius and James nodded. Both were looking downwards and shifting uncomfortably - the moment of doom was almost upon them.

"What are you going to make us do?" asked James in a small voice, raising his head slightly to address the Librarian. Terrible thoughts of things they could possibly do for their detention were running through his mind: _entering the forbidden forest to fight away something like an Acromantula, being left in a dark room without a wand, cleaning out an old Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom where – _

"Clean the cauldrons for Professor Frux. Without magic." James jumped. He had forgotten he'd asked a question. Next to him, Sirius looked as relieved as he felt; obviously the same ideas had been running through his head. "Hand over your wands." Madame Pince said sharply, and the young wizards passed their wands to her silently. She took them, happy that they weren't as reluctant to give up their wands as the older years were, and began to walk to the entrance of the Library. "Follow me." She said after a few steps. James and Sirius jogged to her obediently and stayed behind the stern woman as they made their way down several staircases until they stopped in the dungeons. The door in front of them was opened to reveal a room filled with roughly two dozen cauldrons, all dirty from potions lessons since the beginning of September.

James and Sirius couldn't help but groan inwardly. After all, they had done something to deserve their detention. At least they weren't doing something more dangerous – like facing a manticore without a wand.

"Chop chop!" Madame Pince said impatiently. "The quicker you clean them, the quicker you're out of here! And you will lose points for your house if you don't clean them to Professor Frux's expectations." She walked out of the room, and closed the door. They were on their own now. Sirius grinned, and James grinned back.

"Call this a detention? I can't count how many times my mother's made me clean one of her cauldrons wandless, and these aren't even half as bad as her cauldrons at any rate! This'll be done in no time."

James laughed, and replied, "Yeah, well I've polished all those trophies of my parents, so this should be a doddle, right?" Sirius looked at him strangely.

"James, polishing and scrubbing are two different areas of housework." He told his best friend. "Scrubbing gets rid of dirt, but polishing gets rid of dust!" he sounded like he was explaining the answer to 1 + 1 to a small child. Then he smiled. "I'll teach you!" James nodded vigorously, and soon had mastered the art of scrubbing and cleaning cauldrons. Well, almost mastered.

"So, it's meant to look like this after its cleaned? Why isn't it shiny? When I polish stuff, it goes shiny." He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and Sirius just laughed at him.

"That's because polish is _meant_ to make it shiny. When you clean something, it just gets rid of the dirt and makes it look _clean_. And since when have cauldrons been shiny, anyway?" James threw his washcloth at him.

Several hours and dirty cauldrons later, two messy young wizards flopped down onto their beds in the Gryffindor Tower. James groaned. "My arms ache." Sirius looked at him in disbelief.

"You really are a spoilt rich brat, aren't you?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. James scowled at him.

"If I hadn't just been worked to my extreme right now, then I would whack you with my pillow." He flailed his arms weakly to illustrate his point. Sirius smirked.

Suddenly the door opened with a bang, and Remus barged into the room, followed by Peter Pettigrew. Remus sat on Sirius' bed, looking worried beyond relief, and Peter stood in the middle of the room, looking awkward.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? How did the detention go? Was it horrible?" Remus gushed out, red in the face. Sirius was about to reply when James let out a huge fake moan, and Remus' gaze went from Sirius to James. "James? Are you alright?" James pretended to shrug nonchalantly.

"I suppose." Remus looked at him, wide-eyed. "My arms hurt a bit, and the top half of my body aches, but otherwise I'm okay." James said in his best "survivor" voice. Sirius snorted.

"Sirius!" Remus berated the long-haired youth. "He could be really hurt!"

"Yeah, because cleaning cauldrons can be _so_ _bad_ for his health." Sirius spat back. Remus looked at James, unimpressed.

"You cleaned cauldrons? _Cleaned cauldrons?_ Here I was thinking you had to tend to something like a manticore or an acromantula, and all you've done is _cleaned cauldrons?_" he shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe it! Cleaning cauldrons!" he said angrily, and stormed towards his bed, where he sat down and draped the material shut around him.

"No need to act like a girl!" Sirius called after him, almost sniggering. They heard a 'humph' from the other side of the maroon drapes. Peter stood uncertainly, twiddling with his fingers.

"Go to bed, Peter." James ordered, and Peter obeyed, clambering into his bed and closing the drapes without changing into his pyjamas. James snickered, but was too ecstatic about how well the detention had gone to be bothered with telling Peter to change.

"So," he said, turning on his side to face Sirius. "That wasn't as bad as we thought it was gonna be." Sirius nodded, also on his side.

"It was a feeble attempt at trying to "dissuade us from our highly disruptive behaviour."" Sirius said in a voice that sounded uncannily like McGonagall's. James laughed.

"So … " he began. "Would you rather not do any pranking whatsoever, or would you rather prank your heart out and have to clean cauldrons every so often?" he asked mischievously.

"The second one." Sirius answered. "After all, it'll be more fun. Can you imagine us being boring people and _not _pranking?" James shook his head, a large grin on his face. "Me neither." His face lit up. "We need plans, and lots of them!" he decided, and James jumped over to his bed, enlivened. "We need a parchment, and a quill!" Soon, a quill was poised in James' hand (his handwriting was the neater of the two) and a roll of parchment was laid on his knees. The two boys talked late into the night, discussing various pranks and recording the most ingenious ones. They spoke in conspirational whispers – they had heard the rumours about the walls having ears. The stars shone through the window – their only light – as they exchanged ideas and scribbled down on the parchment. They were _geniuses_. They were the pranksters.


End file.
